Submission to the Ministry of Health. February 2005.

Note:

Guiding Principles for Emergency Planning in the Health and Disabilty Sector.

The final document reflects several of the Foundation's recommendations.

The Foundation supports encouraging health providers to anticipate and plan for emergency situations that have the potential to overwhelm resources. Planning must take account of the needs of people who are blind, deafblind or vision impaired. That inclusiveness needs to be made explicit in the document.

Individuals' needs in an emergency

The way in which a person with a sensory disability can respond to an emergency may be very different from how others respond, particularly when the response is dependent upon information delivered at times of stress. Among the many challenges facing blind, deafblind and vision-impaired people is the problem of ensuring personal safety in an environment they cannot see clearly. Sighted people may encounter obstacles; for a blind or vision-impaired person the obstacle can become a hazard.

When emergency conditions occur, the environment can become even more unpredictable and disorienting. This increases the likelihood of personal injury and/or trauma for blind and vision-impaired people. Policies and systems are required to ensure that blind and vision-impaired people are safe during emergencies. Deafblind people will have particular needs.

Recommendations

The Foundation's submission recommends various wording changes to address explicitly the needs of people who are blind, deafblind, or vision impaired. Needs relate to the environment, emergency evacuation and support systems, staff training, and communication strategies.

Support people

Systems might include a network of people to act as buddies or wardens in times of emergency. It is important to have emergency coordinators who possess some knowledge of blindness, "sighted guide" techniques, and how to communicate effectively with blind people. For instance, telling a blind person, "Go over there" is not an instruction the hearer can follow; yet sighted people commonly forget to expand such instructions. Similarly, sirens and much spoken communication will not reliably help deafblind people.

Accessible evacuation routes

In developing evacuation plans, providers should ensure that evacuation routes are mapped out and tested for their accessibility to people who are blind or vision-impaired.

Accessible communication

Communications strategies must include provision for accessible formats: audio, braille, electronic text, and large print. Accessible web pages must offer any downloadable documents in Word or text form as well as PDF. The Telephone Information Service operated by the Foundation is an excellent way to communicate essential information in audio form to blind people throughout New Zealand, and is already used by some councils to communicate emergency preparedness information to Foundation members.